Scott McLaughlin given 25-point penalty for rejoin incident

Scott McLaughlin has been given a 25-point penalty for his rejoin incident with Garth Tander following his contact with Jamie Whincup in the closing stages of the 2016 Bathurst 1000.

“I’m gutted. I’m more gutted for Garry than myself, I wanted to win it for Garry more than anyone and the team. It’s disappointing … a pretty bad day,” said McLaughlin to supercars.com.

The Volvo driver fought for second place with Triple Eight Race Engineering driver Whincup in the closing stages of the race. The two made contact, forcing McLaughlin to go over the grass and then collided with Holden Racing Team driver Tander when rejoining the circuit.

“It was pretty obvious. I blocked and did what I felt was legal. All I had to do was keep him behind me and I was trying to be aggressive with that as well,” said McLaughlin.

“I knew Jamie was fast, he threw it down the inside, which he is well entitled to do, he said to me the move was on but it was on until we lost control so it’s racing in some ways, but just disappointed.”

McLaughlin is down to fifth position in the championship, with today’s race winner Will Davison taking over fourth. Whincup remain in second place, 139 points behind his team-mate Shane van Gisbergen who finished second at Bathurst.